Tom and Harry walked down the different corridors with Usagi between them
and the guards following behind. They had know idea what to show that girl
and what not to. The captain didn't give them any explicit instructions on
this case. Usagi could be an enemy or she could be telling the truth and be
from the past. If she were from the past, then showing her too much of the
future would not be wise.
Where to start first was what was plaguing them. If this were a dignitary from another planet it would be no big problem. They would show them the shuttle bay, engineering, Ten Forward, Holo-deck, the galley, hydroponics and so on.
Harry looked over at Tom, who just shrugged his shoulders. Which in turn caused Harry to roll his eyes. Tom would then give him a dirty look and Harry would scowl. Usagi was oblivious to the silent conversation being held above her head. She was too busy trying to look in all directions at once to notice. She was fascinated how far the human race had progressed with its technology. It was nowhere near what it was when she was Princess Serenity, but still it boggled the mind.
She was pulled from her ship gazing when she heard Harry heave a huge sigh. "Harry-san, o genki desu ka?"
Harry blushed a little. He was embarrassed that she had heard him. He gave her a small smile, which she returned with a bigger one. Then an idea hit him. Even though all his data was correct he still had a hard time believing this girl was from the past. Maybe if she recreated something from where she was from they could tell the authenticity of it. What better way to prove it than to use the Holo-deck?
"Ano, Usagi-san. We have a room in which objects can be made to look real like the doctor but only holograms. I was wondering, could you give the computer a good description of some of the places that are from your time so it could recreate it for us?"
Usagi looked at him with a big question mark flashing above her head. Tom was confused till he realized where Harry was taking it and doing a bad job. Besides Harry always used big words and complicated things.
"See, Usagi-san, the Japan that we know is totally different now." Tom explained. "So we want to see what it looked like from your time as best as you can describe it so the computer can recreate it for us. That way it would make us feel like we were jumping back into the past."
Usagi chewed on her bottom lip for bit, thinking, before she broke out into a huge smile. "Hai!"
Tom gave a bow and held out his arm for her to take. Usagi giggled and played along. She gave a curtsy and took his arm. Harry followed behind them, groaning. He could already see the trouble he would be dragged into if the girl somehow stayed.
After nearly an hour, Harry's plan to prove her false was blown to pieces. She described the places and people too well not to be from that era. She had grabbed both their hands and dragged them down the streets of a re- created shopping district, pointing at things and babbling on about this and that as if she was still in her own time and giving tourists a tour. But it was the last thing she had created tugged at something in the men's hearts and fully believing her story.
It was a Shinto Shrine. One she must have visited often. This time though there were no people, it was completely quiet. It sat on top of a hill surrounded by sakura trees. Once it was complete, Usagi slowly made her way to the part of the shrine that was the living quarters. She hadn't said one word yet. Tom was looking around little shrine as Harry watched her closely. She came to a stop in front of a doorway, hesitating. He could see her debating whether to go in or not. What would be so important to the girl about that room she would act so? He came up beside her and that was when he noticed the tears.
Finally, she opened the door and walked in without taking off her shoes. Harry poked his head around the side of the door. It must have been the room of the priestess of the shrine. Usagi was sitting at a table in the middle of the room. She seemed to be looking at different sides of the table, as if someone should be sitting there. She bowed her head before flinging herself onto the table and crying.
"Minna-chan, doshite? Doshite wa watashi?"
That was when Harry truly believed. Why would someone be so upset if they were not far from home? He knew he had lain in his room at night alone and cried for the earth he may never see again. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He turned to find Tom standing next to him, eyes brimming with tears ready to fall.
This girl didn't belong here. They had to send her home.if there was a way. Both men stepped away from the room to give Usagi time to finish and collect herself. She would find them when she was ready.
Usagi found her new companions sitting in front of the temple. Memories surfaced of her friends and a tear tried to surface. She wanted to go home, she wanted to know what was going on, how she gotten here, and why. What had happened to the other Senshi? Are they all right? Most of all, what had happened to the earth and the future she knew of? The Earth was not frozen like she had been led to believe it would. Instead, it was thriving with not only humans but many races of life from around the universe. Humanity also traveled around the universe and explored strange new worlds. She pushed all this to the back of her mind until she had time to find answers. She walked up to the men with a smile. It seemed they were enjoying their little trip to the past.
"Kon wa, minna-san."
Tom and Harry stood up. "Hello, Usagi-san. If you are ready we would like to continue," Harry offered. "There are only a few more minutes till we are due back with the Captain. We thought that we should stop by Ten Forward and let Neelix cook us up something."
Tom hit Harry on the back, "That's right! No sense going to one of these meetings on a empty stomach." Before Usagi could verbally agree, her stomach answered for her.
On the way to Ten Forward they told Usagi all about the different races of aliens that were on board. How could they hid that fact when most of the crew themselves were various aliens? She has already seen Tuvok, and a number of crew members passing by her.
Once the doors to Ten-Forward opened, they were greeted with the delicious smells of food. Every one of their stomachs growled. Neelix heard the door open and came around from his counter to welcome them. He stopped when he saw Usagi and heard her surprisingly loud stomach. Neelix looked at the group that accompanied her before Harry stepped forward.
"Neelix, this is the girl the Captain must have told you about. Her name is Usagi."
Neelix smiled and held his hand for the girl. "What a pretty thing you are, Miss Usagi. I am Neelix, the ship's cook and Morale-booster. Come, you must be starved!" He led them into the kitchen. Looking around, the trio could tell he was hard at work making new recipes.
Usagi had been studying Neelix and came to the conclusion that he looked like a cross between a flying Monkey and Giraffe. She giggled and turned to Tom. "Neelix-san is cute but he looks like a monkey and a Giraffe mixed." Usagi covered her mouth at once and blushed; she couldn't believe she said that out loud. (Remember, even though Usagi speech is written in English, she is speaking Japanese until further notice.)
Tom blinked a few times and was at loss for words. Harry could only snicker at the young girl's antics. Neelix hadn't heard her and returned with a pot of a soup-like meal and dished it out to everyone.
Janeway sighed and rubbed her temples as she sat at the head of the conference room's table. "This makes no sense. You're telling me there is no way to get her home?"
B'Elanna leaned forward as far as her swelling abdomen would allow. "First, I would have to know how she got here. That 'wormhole' was not a wormhole. After running some deeper tests and scans with Seven, we found she just... appeared here. Somehow also making the computers show it was caused by a wormhole. At first I thought she might have been some alien species that we had not encountered yet, but." she trailed off and looked to Seven of Nine for support.
"Ensign Kim was correct with his findings. The readings we received of the time-travel seem to be the only true evidence of how she came here. The traces of it were all around her. I ran a few scans while she was in sickbay and have been monitoring her while touring the ship. The traces are still there."
Chakotay sat straighter. "This all shows she is from the past. Otherwise the readings would not come out the same. If she were an alien that was posing, somewhere along the way she would have dropped her guard and set the readings off." He turned to the Captain and mentally groaned. He could see the glint in her eye and the faint smile. Anything to do with the fabrics of Time and she was hooked. Not to mention this gave her a challenge that she had been missing for a while.
"I see. Now that leaves the question on why and how she got here," Janeway said. "She stated in Sickbay she had no clue. Someone could have sent her and if that's so, did they send her because she is evil or because the sender was?"
Tuvok stopped that train of thought. "I believe she was sent here against her will. While in sickbay I felt nothing but calm and peace from her while she slept. Once she was awoke curiosity, fright and loneliness dominated. Logic would dictate that if she was set on coming to the future, she would be ready for what she faced. This girl was not. She shied away from anyone that came near her and pulled out this locket." He revealed a red heart- shaped locket with wings on the sides and a gold crescent moon in the middle.
"I was able to get this from her and the Doctor calmed her. It would be illogical to jump to conclusions now, till we here her story of events. Not once have I felt her lie." (If I remember correctly. Vulcan's can sense some emotions and detect lies.)
Janeway could only nod. Once again Tuvok had proved why she valued his insight. He always presented the plain logic that was before her eyes and not the complicated angle she always went for. The doors opened, stopping the others from saying anything else. They were expecting Tom, Harry and Neelix to walk in with their new guest in tow. That was what happened, but not in the way they were expecting.
A disheveled Harry and Usagi covered in various forms of food came running in through the doors. They stood at opposite sides of the doorway then dropped down and held a rope between them, giggling and speaking in hushed voices. They were totally oblivious to their audience.
Harry said something to Usagi. She dropped her end of the rope and reached for a bag she had tied to the belt of her borrowed clothes. She quickly unwrapped the contents and placed them a few feet from the door before returning quickly to the rope. Each of those seated at the table had the same look of confusion on their faces.
Janeway had figured out what they were up to. She leaned her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands. Chakotay looked at her perplexed. She smiled and whispered out of the side of her mouth, "Relax and enjoy the show."
It dawned on him what was happening. He whispered to the others before leaning back and waiting for the outcome. They didn't have to wait long. The doors opened once again and they could hear Tom's voice and Neelix not to far behind. Tom rushed into the room, unaware of the tightened rope that tripped him and sent him face first into what looked like a ruined pie or cake.
Laughter broke out as Tom lifted his head up and spit out what got into his mouth before he could say anything. Neelix walked in and tripped over the still tightened line. He landed on Tom and pushed his face back into the pastry. Usagi and Harry leaned against each other, laughing so hard tears came to their eyes. Their spectators, besides Tuvok and Seven, laughed along. Who would have thought someone would get the better of the trickster himself?
Neelix pushed himself off of Tom and helped him up, all the while Tom was muttering under his breath. He scooped up a bit of the pastry in one hand and was about to launch it until the Captain stopped him. She had watched and came to the conclusion that she did not want her conference room covered in whatever pastry that was.
"Mr. Paris I would advise against throwing that."
Tom looked over to her and blanched when he realized he had witnesses. Not to mention the fact that one was his wife and would not let him forget this. He dropped the load in his hand and wiped his hands on his already ruined uniform. Harry and Usagi stood next to him still chortling while Neelix smiled smugly. Janeway leaned back and looked over the four. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened just by how much food they seemed to be wearing, but curiosity had won over. "Would somebody please explain?"
The quartet looked at each other and then all pointed at someone different and a chorus of 'He/she did it!' was heard. They repeated this a few times till three fingers landed at once on Tom Paris. "He did it." A muttered, "traitors," was heard.
Janeway sighed, the headache was returning. "We will discuses this later. Please sit down."
The four sheepishly sat. Janeway opened her mouth to speak but shut it as the door opened again and the doctor walked through.
"Good..." was all they heard from him before he slipped on the splattered pastry and landed flat on his back. It was funny how, at times, the doctor seemed so human even though he was a hologram. Janeway groaned as laughter broke out again. It was going to be a long meeting...
Where to start first was what was plaguing them. If this were a dignitary from another planet it would be no big problem. They would show them the shuttle bay, engineering, Ten Forward, Holo-deck, the galley, hydroponics and so on.
Harry looked over at Tom, who just shrugged his shoulders. Which in turn caused Harry to roll his eyes. Tom would then give him a dirty look and Harry would scowl. Usagi was oblivious to the silent conversation being held above her head. She was too busy trying to look in all directions at once to notice. She was fascinated how far the human race had progressed with its technology. It was nowhere near what it was when she was Princess Serenity, but still it boggled the mind.
She was pulled from her ship gazing when she heard Harry heave a huge sigh. "Harry-san, o genki desu ka?"
Harry blushed a little. He was embarrassed that she had heard him. He gave her a small smile, which she returned with a bigger one. Then an idea hit him. Even though all his data was correct he still had a hard time believing this girl was from the past. Maybe if she recreated something from where she was from they could tell the authenticity of it. What better way to prove it than to use the Holo-deck?
"Ano, Usagi-san. We have a room in which objects can be made to look real like the doctor but only holograms. I was wondering, could you give the computer a good description of some of the places that are from your time so it could recreate it for us?"
Usagi looked at him with a big question mark flashing above her head. Tom was confused till he realized where Harry was taking it and doing a bad job. Besides Harry always used big words and complicated things.
"See, Usagi-san, the Japan that we know is totally different now." Tom explained. "So we want to see what it looked like from your time as best as you can describe it so the computer can recreate it for us. That way it would make us feel like we were jumping back into the past."
Usagi chewed on her bottom lip for bit, thinking, before she broke out into a huge smile. "Hai!"
Tom gave a bow and held out his arm for her to take. Usagi giggled and played along. She gave a curtsy and took his arm. Harry followed behind them, groaning. He could already see the trouble he would be dragged into if the girl somehow stayed.
After nearly an hour, Harry's plan to prove her false was blown to pieces. She described the places and people too well not to be from that era. She had grabbed both their hands and dragged them down the streets of a re- created shopping district, pointing at things and babbling on about this and that as if she was still in her own time and giving tourists a tour. But it was the last thing she had created tugged at something in the men's hearts and fully believing her story.
It was a Shinto Shrine. One she must have visited often. This time though there were no people, it was completely quiet. It sat on top of a hill surrounded by sakura trees. Once it was complete, Usagi slowly made her way to the part of the shrine that was the living quarters. She hadn't said one word yet. Tom was looking around little shrine as Harry watched her closely. She came to a stop in front of a doorway, hesitating. He could see her debating whether to go in or not. What would be so important to the girl about that room she would act so? He came up beside her and that was when he noticed the tears.
Finally, she opened the door and walked in without taking off her shoes. Harry poked his head around the side of the door. It must have been the room of the priestess of the shrine. Usagi was sitting at a table in the middle of the room. She seemed to be looking at different sides of the table, as if someone should be sitting there. She bowed her head before flinging herself onto the table and crying.
"Minna-chan, doshite? Doshite wa watashi?"
That was when Harry truly believed. Why would someone be so upset if they were not far from home? He knew he had lain in his room at night alone and cried for the earth he may never see again. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. He turned to find Tom standing next to him, eyes brimming with tears ready to fall.
This girl didn't belong here. They had to send her home.if there was a way. Both men stepped away from the room to give Usagi time to finish and collect herself. She would find them when she was ready.
Usagi found her new companions sitting in front of the temple. Memories surfaced of her friends and a tear tried to surface. She wanted to go home, she wanted to know what was going on, how she gotten here, and why. What had happened to the other Senshi? Are they all right? Most of all, what had happened to the earth and the future she knew of? The Earth was not frozen like she had been led to believe it would. Instead, it was thriving with not only humans but many races of life from around the universe. Humanity also traveled around the universe and explored strange new worlds. She pushed all this to the back of her mind until she had time to find answers. She walked up to the men with a smile. It seemed they were enjoying their little trip to the past.
"Kon wa, minna-san."
Tom and Harry stood up. "Hello, Usagi-san. If you are ready we would like to continue," Harry offered. "There are only a few more minutes till we are due back with the Captain. We thought that we should stop by Ten Forward and let Neelix cook us up something."
Tom hit Harry on the back, "That's right! No sense going to one of these meetings on a empty stomach." Before Usagi could verbally agree, her stomach answered for her.
On the way to Ten Forward they told Usagi all about the different races of aliens that were on board. How could they hid that fact when most of the crew themselves were various aliens? She has already seen Tuvok, and a number of crew members passing by her.
Once the doors to Ten-Forward opened, they were greeted with the delicious smells of food. Every one of their stomachs growled. Neelix heard the door open and came around from his counter to welcome them. He stopped when he saw Usagi and heard her surprisingly loud stomach. Neelix looked at the group that accompanied her before Harry stepped forward.
"Neelix, this is the girl the Captain must have told you about. Her name is Usagi."
Neelix smiled and held his hand for the girl. "What a pretty thing you are, Miss Usagi. I am Neelix, the ship's cook and Morale-booster. Come, you must be starved!" He led them into the kitchen. Looking around, the trio could tell he was hard at work making new recipes.
Usagi had been studying Neelix and came to the conclusion that he looked like a cross between a flying Monkey and Giraffe. She giggled and turned to Tom. "Neelix-san is cute but he looks like a monkey and a Giraffe mixed." Usagi covered her mouth at once and blushed; she couldn't believe she said that out loud. (Remember, even though Usagi speech is written in English, she is speaking Japanese until further notice.)
Tom blinked a few times and was at loss for words. Harry could only snicker at the young girl's antics. Neelix hadn't heard her and returned with a pot of a soup-like meal and dished it out to everyone.
Janeway sighed and rubbed her temples as she sat at the head of the conference room's table. "This makes no sense. You're telling me there is no way to get her home?"
B'Elanna leaned forward as far as her swelling abdomen would allow. "First, I would have to know how she got here. That 'wormhole' was not a wormhole. After running some deeper tests and scans with Seven, we found she just... appeared here. Somehow also making the computers show it was caused by a wormhole. At first I thought she might have been some alien species that we had not encountered yet, but." she trailed off and looked to Seven of Nine for support.
"Ensign Kim was correct with his findings. The readings we received of the time-travel seem to be the only true evidence of how she came here. The traces of it were all around her. I ran a few scans while she was in sickbay and have been monitoring her while touring the ship. The traces are still there."
Chakotay sat straighter. "This all shows she is from the past. Otherwise the readings would not come out the same. If she were an alien that was posing, somewhere along the way she would have dropped her guard and set the readings off." He turned to the Captain and mentally groaned. He could see the glint in her eye and the faint smile. Anything to do with the fabrics of Time and she was hooked. Not to mention this gave her a challenge that she had been missing for a while.
"I see. Now that leaves the question on why and how she got here," Janeway said. "She stated in Sickbay she had no clue. Someone could have sent her and if that's so, did they send her because she is evil or because the sender was?"
Tuvok stopped that train of thought. "I believe she was sent here against her will. While in sickbay I felt nothing but calm and peace from her while she slept. Once she was awoke curiosity, fright and loneliness dominated. Logic would dictate that if she was set on coming to the future, she would be ready for what she faced. This girl was not. She shied away from anyone that came near her and pulled out this locket." He revealed a red heart- shaped locket with wings on the sides and a gold crescent moon in the middle.
"I was able to get this from her and the Doctor calmed her. It would be illogical to jump to conclusions now, till we here her story of events. Not once have I felt her lie." (If I remember correctly. Vulcan's can sense some emotions and detect lies.)
Janeway could only nod. Once again Tuvok had proved why she valued his insight. He always presented the plain logic that was before her eyes and not the complicated angle she always went for. The doors opened, stopping the others from saying anything else. They were expecting Tom, Harry and Neelix to walk in with their new guest in tow. That was what happened, but not in the way they were expecting.
A disheveled Harry and Usagi covered in various forms of food came running in through the doors. They stood at opposite sides of the doorway then dropped down and held a rope between them, giggling and speaking in hushed voices. They were totally oblivious to their audience.
Harry said something to Usagi. She dropped her end of the rope and reached for a bag she had tied to the belt of her borrowed clothes. She quickly unwrapped the contents and placed them a few feet from the door before returning quickly to the rope. Each of those seated at the table had the same look of confusion on their faces.
Janeway had figured out what they were up to. She leaned her elbows on the table and rested her head on her hands. Chakotay looked at her perplexed. She smiled and whispered out of the side of her mouth, "Relax and enjoy the show."
It dawned on him what was happening. He whispered to the others before leaning back and waiting for the outcome. They didn't have to wait long. The doors opened once again and they could hear Tom's voice and Neelix not to far behind. Tom rushed into the room, unaware of the tightened rope that tripped him and sent him face first into what looked like a ruined pie or cake.
Laughter broke out as Tom lifted his head up and spit out what got into his mouth before he could say anything. Neelix walked in and tripped over the still tightened line. He landed on Tom and pushed his face back into the pastry. Usagi and Harry leaned against each other, laughing so hard tears came to their eyes. Their spectators, besides Tuvok and Seven, laughed along. Who would have thought someone would get the better of the trickster himself?
Neelix pushed himself off of Tom and helped him up, all the while Tom was muttering under his breath. He scooped up a bit of the pastry in one hand and was about to launch it until the Captain stopped him. She had watched and came to the conclusion that she did not want her conference room covered in whatever pastry that was.
"Mr. Paris I would advise against throwing that."
Tom looked over to her and blanched when he realized he had witnesses. Not to mention the fact that one was his wife and would not let him forget this. He dropped the load in his hand and wiped his hands on his already ruined uniform. Harry and Usagi stood next to him still chortling while Neelix smiled smugly. Janeway leaned back and looked over the four. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened just by how much food they seemed to be wearing, but curiosity had won over. "Would somebody please explain?"
The quartet looked at each other and then all pointed at someone different and a chorus of 'He/she did it!' was heard. They repeated this a few times till three fingers landed at once on Tom Paris. "He did it." A muttered, "traitors," was heard.
Janeway sighed, the headache was returning. "We will discuses this later. Please sit down."
The four sheepishly sat. Janeway opened her mouth to speak but shut it as the door opened again and the doctor walked through.
"Good..." was all they heard from him before he slipped on the splattered pastry and landed flat on his back. It was funny how, at times, the doctor seemed so human even though he was a hologram. Janeway groaned as laughter broke out again. It was going to be a long meeting...